Monday, August 4, 2014

From the latest blockbuster superhero movie Guardians of the Galaxy over the weekend, to one of the most influential comic book adaptations to hit cinema screens, 1989's Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as the titular Batman and Jack Nicholson as his arch-enemy 'The Joker'.

Original costume worn by Jack Nicholson

as The Joker in 1989's Batman

One of the real highlights of the Batman 75th Anniversary Exhibit on Warner Bros. Studios VIP Tour when I visited on July 29, 2014, was seeing these original costumes featured in the 1989 movie, which radically reinvented the superhero movie genre, with its dark brooding hero, atmospheric recreation of Gotham City, pumping Prince soundtrack and the scene-stealing performance by Jack Nicholson as the maniacal criminal, The Joker.

Whilst Cesar Romero certainly made the white-faced, green-haired Joker memorable in the campy 1960's Batman TV series and movie, Jack Nicholson elevated the smiling villain to a whole different sinister level, bringing his crazy credentials from such films as The Shining and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (and his wacky colour clash dress sense obviously helped).

She wears this pale green outfit when she's set up on a fake date trap at the Gotham Museum of Art by The Joker and subsequently rescued by Batman.

Bob Ringwood was responsible for Batman's big screen Hollywood makeover (along with the other costume designs in the movie), giving him the dark armoured latex look over the Caped Crusader's familiar blue and grey tights comic book and 60's TV show look.

Original Bat-suit worn by Michael Keaton in 1989's Batman

Apparently this is one of the surviving screen-used molded foam latex bat-suits worn by Michael Keaton and during production was sprayed black to retain the consistency of the look throughout filming.

If you're a fan of the 1989 movie, be sure to also check out the Batmobile that featured in Batman, plus stick around in the days to come to see all the other Bat-suits which followed this iconic version in the later 90's films and Christopher Nolan trilogy.